Dassault Systèmes announced that it has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (CREST). The partnership aims to create a steering committee to discuss the scope, requirements, roles and plans in supporting Malaysia's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their transformation journey to Industry 4.0, as well as enhancing cloud-based collaboration through adopting world-class Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. The ERP solutions will leverage Dassault Systèmes' virtual twin technologies via its 3DEXPERIENCE platform, specifically its computer-aided design software and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, which are used in various industries including manufacturing, engineering and life sciences.

As the manufacturing sector is undergoing a significant transformation with a push to adopt and adapt value-added processes and digitalisation, this partnership will tap on the collective expertise of the parties to help local businesses via a three-pronged approach, namely enabling Industry 4.0 readiness, providing access to the global marketplace and adopting true cloud-based collaboration. The intent is to develop a programme to enhance the efficiency and operations of SMEs in Malaysia with the state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, aimed at integrating business processes and applications.